


Forgiveness

by Vortaesthetic



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 18:22:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14243121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vortaesthetic/pseuds/Vortaesthetic
Summary: After his return from an alternate timeline where Weyoun Six still lived, Rotan'talag still deals with the guilt left behind.





	Forgiveness

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to both BrandyVorta (this is based off an RP thread we had) and the always wonderful Gauntletto!

"Ro…what's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing," Ro said, staring up at the ceiling.  
  
It was a warm and cozy morning as both of them lazed in their bed, Nine wrapped around him like ivy. The atmosphere in the room was quieter than usual, though not hostile or tense.  
  
Very few words had been spoken between the pair this morning; Weyoun had just woken up in a mood far too amorous to need words to fill the gap. Rotan had been awake much longer, and had been even quieter than normal. Ro seemed a little distracted as Weyoun had pressed little kisses to his chest, his collarbone, up his throat like the soft skimming of butterfly wings. He'd shivered at the sensation, but it seemed that his mind had been somewhere else.  
  
"Don't tell me that. It's been like loving on a warm stone this morning. Something is obviously on your mind. What is it?"  
  
Ro's large hand slid down his back beneath the becovers, relishing in the shape and feel of his lover.  
  
"I've been brooding."  
  
"Brooding?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"…I'm not questioning what you're saying. I'm just surprised that you said it that way."  
  
Weyoun propped himself up on the pillow next to Ro, his chin in his hands. "Alright, let's talk. Spill it, dear."  
  
Ro glanced at him, but turned away as if he'd looked into the sun. "I was thinking of the other timeline, is all."  
  
"You were there for a while. Things happened over there. You were distressed, as was I…It's only natural that you would think of that from time to time."  
  
Weyoun's easy understanding was a little much to bear right now. It didn't help that he saw another face seared into his brain whenever he blinked. It was the same, but different; sunny Nine smiled at him in the waking world and Six's pale, wan face peered at him through the dark whenever his eyes were shut. Identical and never together but constantly trading places. It was maddening.  
  
He had fought waves of guilt continuously since his return to his native timeline a week ago, despite how overjoyed he had been to return. He and Weyoun Six had grown to be close in the past, even if the nature of his relations with the Sixth had been different than his with Nine. The Sixth had not taken Nine's place as his lover…but Rotan had indulged his need to hold and be held with Six out of desperation. Six, so lonely and starved for touch, allowed it.  
  
He had used the Vorta like a bandage to sustain him.  
  
He had never intended to stay. And he hadn't been upfront about that.  
  
Weyoun Six had been used by enough people before Ro had crossed his path. He had only carelessly added to that list.  
  
"I was dishonorable to Weyoun Six in the past."  
  
"Really? How so?"  
  
Ro thought then of the desperate hunger for affection that the Sixth had admitted to. The feelings of being purposeless that he openly admitted to; the hopelessness he didn't. How eager he had melted into Ro's embrace, desperate for any scrap of affection, even if it were a hand-me-down from his own Vorta.  
  
"I wasn't as honest with him as I should have been."  
  
"Ro, remember…I was him once. A few lifetimes ago, we were exactly the same. In theory, he's right here," Weyoun says, tapping his temple with a single finger. "If it helps you feel better about it, tell me. And I can tell you what he would have thought about it."  
  
Ro nodded, trying to find the simplest way to the end of the story. He wasn't trying to embellish it or revise the story to hide his flaws. Jem'Hadar stood by their words and deeds, and truth was the necessary companion to honor. But he did feel shame about the ordeal, despite how desperate and strapped for options he had been.  
  
"He was very isolated. Withdrawn. He had few, if any, friends. He felt that he was aimlessly wandering through life. When I encountered him, interacted with him…it gave him some sort of hope that he would have a consistent companion.  
  
"I…embraced him at times. He reminded me of you, for obvious reasons. But I know you, and he was only a pale imitation of you. Both of you are distinct in my mind."  
  
"Why are you so worried? What is it that you think of as betrayal?"  
  
"…he was in need. I left him behind."  
  
Weyoun paused for a minute. His eyes searched Ro's face as he carefully decided the best way to put what he was trying to say.  
  
"Ro, there was no way you could have possibly made it work. You were confined to a single room. You had to hide your existence. You would have been killed on sight. You could not have possibly stayed. And he would have known that."  
  
"He seemed pained when I departed. Wounded."  
  
"I'm sure he did. But he was logical, too. He knew that it had to end. Perhaps he took comfort in your presence…but that's hardly pretense to keep you locked away in the past. He knew that he would have to give you up when you found your way back to your own time.  
  
"Would he have grown attached? Without a doubt. Would he be hurt by you leaving? Yes, but would he have understood why you had to go? Absolutely. Would he attribute that as deliberate cruelty by you? Never."  
  
"You say that so confidently."  
  
"I remember how I thought when I was him. My Sixth life was not happy, but it was one of the most honest ones I lived. I felt like I saw everything clearly for the first time. The world fell in on me then and it was not particularly kind…but such is the nature of waking up from a dream. Cleansed of the filters the Founders had engineered me to see, the world was a hostile place. But I appreciated the chance to see it as it really was."  
  
"You know, this isn't helping."  
  
"Ro, he was inclined to think the best of people. To forgive. His whole mission in life was forgiveness. If you are concerned that he was upset for you, I can tell you that he has forgiven you for it. If anything… he was just grateful to have you for as long as he did. To have been able to know then what love felt like…it would have changed everything. But more than that, he would have wanted you to forgive yourself and move on. You're not wrong to grieve, but you alone could not have fixed all of his hurts."  
  
Weyoun moved close to him, wrapping his arms around his mournful lover. "Forgiveness, love. You have to believe that you are worthy of it."

 


End file.
